Little Busters! & Kud Wafter Remix Album -Deejay Busters!-

Overview

Club remix albums have a history of being hit-and-miss in the video game industry — with more misses, as fans of Dragon Quest, Final Fantasy, and Gradius know. Nevertheless, Key decided to dedicate a remix album to two of their most recent titles during 2011, Little Busters! and Kud Wafter. And in doing so, they produced a rare definitive ‘dud’ in their discography.

Body

The first instrumental remix on the album, dedicated to Rin’s theme “Ring Ring Ring”, emphasises the album’s biggest problems right away. Firstly, the remix fails to capture the melody of the original. It takes over two minutes of layered beats for the melody to emerge and, when it finally does, it sounds aseptic and contrived — as if it was moulded to fit the beats, rather than the other way around. Secondly, the beats themselves are extremely generic and sound like they come from a stock club album; their strong pulse and dazzling flourishes would suit some clubs, but only those run by trashy DJs. To add insult to injury, some beats are so piercing that they will be annoying to people and the remix is needlessly prolonged to a six minute playtime. Groovetune’s “Sunday Morning Dance” is a little more experimental, with some psytrance, but cripplingly repetitive. When the melody finally arrives, it sounds strangely obligatory and the piano line corresponds in no way to the beats below.

Not all the remixes are awful. On LongFi’s “August Green”, the beats are layered in a more compelling manner and the original melodies are well-integrated. Though their use is still transient, they sound like they belong in the remix and provide a welcome centrepiece. DJ Sharpnel also delivers the required sound on “Adagio for Summer Wind”, placing a strong focus on the original melody, while increasingly incorporating hardcore beats. While neither remix is as inappropriate or generic as others on the album, they’re still strictly average — they don’t enhance the originals in any way and won’t appeal to seasoned electronica fans.

There are several vocal remixes here, many of them clustered at the end of the release. The opening theme for Little Busters! provides an electrifying opening for the album, blending Rita’s vocals with elating beats. Love them or hate them, DJ Shimamura’s interpretation is pretty close in style to the club remixes of mainstream pop music abundant today. Those who enjoy such remixes should have no problem customising here, but others should stay well away. “Hoshikuzu” seems less suited for this approach and most of the subtleties of the original are lost with the hammering beats, while “Alicemagic” at the close of the album is even more hyperactive and is incredibly cheesy. A more creative track is Dee!’s rendition of Kuf Wafter‘s “one’s future”, but the original is such a select taste — with its shrieky girly vocals — that many won’t enjoy this.

Summary

Little Busters! & Kud Wafter Remix Album -Deejay Busters!- is startingly bad. With a mixture of mundane, repetitive, and annoying tracks, this is bound to be a turn off to most club music fans. What’s more, most tracks fail to make the most of the original material in favour of recycled beats. Those interested in electronic remixes of Key music should check out the vastly superior Clannad Remix Album -Memento- instead.

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1.5

Posted on August 1, 2012 by Chris Greening. Last modified on August 1, 2012.

About the Author

Chris Greening I've contributed to websites related to game audio since 2002. In this time, I've reviewed over a thousand albums and interviewed hundreds of musicians across the world. As the founder and webmaster of VGMO -Video Game Music Online-, I hope to create a cutting-edge, journalistic resource for all those soundtrack enthusiasts out there. In the process, I would love to further cultivate my passion for music, writing, and generally building things. Please enjoy the site and don't hesitate to say hello!